Lawmakers want to plug the health staff gap by 2034. They also demand binding limits on unsafe staffing — and the EU budget to pay for it.

Europe applauded its nurses and doctors through the pandemic. Six years later it is short of a million of them. Three in ten of its doctors are over 55, and an ageing population needs more care, not less.

Parliament wants one million extra health workers by 2034, and it wants the EU’s next budget to pay for them. MEPs adopted the report on 17 September by 514 votes to 61, with 33 abstentions. The text, “An EU health workforce crisis plan”, asks the Commission for a strategy covering the next long-term budget, from 2028 to 2034.

“Today, six years after COVID, we forgot the applause, their commitment and sacrifice,” said MEP Estelle Ceulemans (S&D/BEL). “But the situation in the healthcare sector is even more dire. It’s affecting one million workers, and this is serious.”

Older doctors, more patients

MEP Loucas Fourlas (EPP/CYP) steered the report through Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee (EMPL). “Hospitals, primary care centres and long-term care services are under increasing pressure due to understaffing, burnout, ageing populations, and growing healthcare demands,” he said. “We need concrete action, and we need to make real efforts to reduce the brain drain,” he added.

MEP Ruggero Razza (ECR/IT) led the work in the Public Health Committee. “We are already in a crisis,” he told the plenary.

Today, six years after COVID, we forgot the applause, their commitment and sacrifice. – Estelle Ceulemans (S&D/BE)

Mr Razza put numbers on it. Three in ten European doctors and 18 per cent of nurses are over 55. In 12 of the 27 member states, four in ten doctors are already past that age. “This means that over the next few years, a big chunk of the healthcare workforce will be retiring, while in parallel, an ageing population will require ever more care,” he said.

The Italian conservative member said some regions already face what the report calls “medical deserts”. “Access to healthcare shouldn’t depend on your postcode,” he said.

What Parliament wants

To fill the gap, MEPs want to attract more young people into health professions. They propose funds for scholarships, cross-border cooperation, and targeted measures for fair pay and job stability.

They also want to keep the staff Europe already has. The report calls for fair pay, mental health support and job security. One in three doctors and nurses experience mental health challenges, MEPs say.

Parliament also asks for a binding framework that treats unsafe staffing levels as an occupational hazard. That framework would include workload controls and doctor-to-patient and nurse-to-patient ratios.

MEPs want more public money and a bigger share of dedicated EU funding for health. They also back digital tools such as telemedicine and AI-supported diagnostics, especially in rural areas, as long as face-to-face care stays central.

Health spending like defence spending

Mr Razza wants the EU to go further on money. “When it comes to healthcare, we can’t apply the same rules as those coming under the [Stability and] Growth Pact. Like defence spending, similar rules should be applied to healthcare,” he said. He also pointed to prevention. “Every euro that we invest in prevention can generate up to 14 euros of savings, both by reducing expenditure and increasing productivity,” the MEP said.

“Europe is facing a deficit of well over one million professionals. We can no longer afford to simply monitor these trends,” Health Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi told MEPs. But the EU’s reach is limited. Organising health systems is a national job.

Brussels calls the response “a joint endeavour with the member states”. The Commission says it is not starting from scratch. EU rules on health and safety at work already cover healthcare staff and all occupational risks. Doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists and pharmacists enjoy automatic recognition of their qualifications across the EU. A new Skills Portability Initiative should make recognition faster, simpler and more digital for other health professionals too. “But I agree with you, rules are not enough,” Mr Várhelyi said.

A hospital without staff

Beyond the rules, the EU pays for practical help on the ground. HEROES, a joint action funded by the EU4Health programme, helps countries plan their workforce based on data. A separate nursing action, funded by the same programme, gives national authorities toolkits to recruit and keep nurses. The Recovery and Resilience Facility and the European Semester, the EU’s yearly economic policy cycle, helped countries tackle shortages and modernise care.

The Commission also links shortages to prevention. Its Safe Hearts Plan aims to cut premature deaths from cardiovascular disease by 25% by 2035. Várhelyi added that digital tools and AI could free up time so staff can “focus more on what matters most”.

I agree with you, rules are not enough. – Health Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi

MEP András Tivadar Kulja (EPP/HU), a doctor who negotiated the report for his group in the Public Health Committee, asked MEPs to picture a hospital full of modern machines. “Now imagine that in this hospital, in this operating theatre, there is no one apart from the patients, no doctors, no nurses, no assistants, no staff at all,” he said.

Staffing is a national competence, Mr Kulja said, yet the problems look the same everywhere. “Healthcare professionals are overburdened and their numbers are decreasing.” He wants the EU institutions to “create safe working conditions for healthcare professionals” and to “make working in the health sector attractive for future generations”.

A ticking time bomb

Ms Ceulemans wants binding rules, not another strategy. If Europe does nothing, she said, it will not cope with a new pandemic or with an ageing population. “The shortage of labour is a vicious circle that affects the wellbeing of staff as well as patients,” she said.

She called the shortage “a ticking time bomb”. She wants money, not austerity, and one specific law. “And no, Commissioner, we need a specific directive for psychosocial support,” the Belgian Socialist said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) counted a shortfall of 1.2 million health workers in 2022 in its European region. It expects a gap of almost one million by 2030, as populations age and long-term care needs grow.

Parliament warns that shortages put patient safety at risk and lead to crowded emergency departments, long waiting times and late diagnoses. The two parliamentary committees adopted the report in early June, as EU Perspectives reported.

What comes next

Parliament wants the one million target backed with money in the EU’s 2028-2034 budget. But it is the Commission, not the Parliament, who gets to decide whether to write the strategy. And member states, not the Commission, decide how many nurses they hire.

Mr Razza calls for action. “If we’re in a crisis, we can’t just stand back and analyse the situation. We need an effective response,” he said.